maybe the polls are wrong, but if you're looking at the polls right now, obama has got it. >> did romney have momentum or was that just republican spin? >> he did have momentum after the first debate -- >> we have had a three since then -- >> what obama was never able to recapture the lead. >> i cannot say with certainty that there was momentum, no momentum. i cannot tell. you look at the polls hour after hour and you get a sense that this thing is very tight, even when you go to some of the battle ground states. >> yes, the first debate made an enormous difference in the campaign. it allowed mitt romney to reintroduce himself with no opposition on the part of the president as the moderate massachusetts reasonable mitt. gone was the saber-rattling mitt, keep out the foreigners mitt, round up the suspects mitt and send them to practice -- [laughter] he became reasonable, intelligent, poised, forget the cayman islands and the swiss bank accounts. frank bruni of "the new york times" made a telling point -- the first debate was important because it may president obama in the next two debates